Re-enacting the Battle of Maldon

On the Historic Quad, students in Associate Professor of English Sylvia Federico’s course “Lord of the Rings in Context” re-enact the historical Battle of Maldon, in which Viking invaders defeated the English in August of the year 991. Federico, an expert in neo-medievalism in contemporary culture, guides her students into a critical understanding of JRR Tolkien’s creative approach, while also illuminating Tolkien’s lesser-known academic brilliance. In this clip, narrator Beth Siegert ’14 of Acton, Mass., reads from Tolkien’s critical interpretation of the Old English poetic fragment that memorializes the events of 991, while her fellow students re-enact the battle.

link to live project:

http://vimeo.com/22242552

crc affiliate:

mhanraha

faculty member:

Sylvia Federico

academic department:

English

implementation details:

Video shot live on the Quad. The footage was converted to a web-ready format using MPEG Streamclip and published on Vimeo.